Knocked Out
by Discothe
Summary: James is an international Quidditch idol, and Lily is Head Girl, yet so much more. So many girls want James, but he wants something else. Lily makes him think— but does she want him?


**Knocked Out  
****Written by: Discothe**

**Disclaimer:**_ I have no part in J.K.R.'s empire of Harry Potter books. This was written for fun and no profit is being made. _

"Mmm-Hmm"

**Summary: James is an international Quidditch idol, and Lily is Head Girl, yet so much more. So many girls want James, but he wants something else. Lily makes him think—but does she want him? **

**A/N:** Hey guys. I hope you read and enjoy, please review. There will be more chapters to come, and, if you guys don't tell on me, perhaps some rather intimate scenes. cough. But I am hoping you enjoy, give some input, etc. If you can write a new, better summary, please do. I will love you. Anyway, you know the drill. Read on! And I know that a lot of fics are getting to be deleted, and my probably will be too. So enjoy while you can.  
Note: not a one shot.

* * *

She'd been acknowledged by him, for real, on the train ride over. Sure, she was in seventh year, and that was a little late for meeting people, but _he_ wasn't exactly real. _He_ was a Quidditch player, a god, an international idol. 

His name was James Potter and he'd been discovered at the age of fifteen. Sure, Lily could have met him before then, but he was still untouchable. For you see, James Potter was mystical, magical, and a piece of ass that just about every girl wanted. He was above everyone else, even his friends. And certainly way above Lily herself.

Yes, of course, they'd had their interactions before. They'd even hated each other. But really acknowledging each other? Pshhh, like that ever happened.

They were at Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which I suppose the reader knows about. The essentials were basically that those in England who possessed magical powers were sent a letter at age 11, and that was when school began. Lily and James had classes together and perhaps spoke in the halls, but bam! In seventh year, she met him.

It had started out when she'd walked into Platform Nine and Three Quarters, a confident witch, and seen him standing there. Of course, he was surrounded by his usual entourage—a camera crew recording famous J.P.'s first train ride back since his big win at the Germany Extreme Quidditch Pitch. The girls were swarming, as usual, but Lily happened to look over for a second. Just a second of an innocent, rather curious glance, but Lily could never really put into clear words to herself what happened. Their gazes connected, and it was such a shock that Lily turned her head without even wondering why. She could still feel his eyes like prongs on her body, and she looked confusedly towards her friends.

She grasped her trunk and hurried towards them, squeezing herself in between their line, hiding herself from James Potter's stare.

"Mr. Potter, who was that?" asked an interested reporter, shoving a wizardphone into his face.

"Broken dreams." His eyes were intense and hazel, and the reporter took a step back.

* * *

"Ahh! We have seven minutes to go!" called Lily as she hopped aboard the train. 

"Right, right," replied the brunette behind Lily, the redhead. "What's that charm that will make our trunks light?"

"_Lighmosa Gardium_," Lily said over her shoulder. "It's a form of the _wingardium leviosa_ charm, but with added control and—"

"Lily, dahling," gushed an amber-eyed seventh year in front of Lily. "Like we really needed to know that. With all due respect—"

"Shut the hell up!" chimed in Ally, the brunette.

"Exactly."

"Gosh, guys," Lily huffed. She playfully shoved Ally as they walked down the train, trying to find a compartment they could have to themselves.

"Oh, Lily," said amber-eyes. "Did you break up with Anthony?"

"Ugh," sighed Lily. "Carmen, I wish I wasn't reminded of that."

Carmen looked on, interested. By this time, they'd found a compartment towards the front of the train, almost up to the prefect's compartment. It served as a reminder to Lily that she'd have to go and…brief the prefects later on, as well as receive her own directions.

"Well, it sort of…um…well, he broke down and cried."

"WHAT?"

Lily broke into laughter. "No, not really. He was okay with it, but I doubt he'll ever speak to me again."

Carmen was laughing too, but her chuckles faded as Lily's last words sunk in. "Yeah, I guess that's too bad."

Lily shrugged flippantly. "He wasn't too good a kisser, though. I mean, it was like…" she searched for the words. "It was like kissing a board, or the back of someone's hand. Totally unresponsive."

Ally frowned. "How was he—"

"—where it counts?" finished Carmen.

The three girls were startled by the snapping open of their compartment. The doorway framed James, and he calmly took in the three girls' upturned faces.

There was broad-faced Carmen, petite, with her brown eyes glittering over her tight-fitting green shirt. There was Ally, hazel-eyed with blonde highlights in her light-brown hair, and then there was Lily. Lily's eyebrows were raised sky high above her brilliant emerald eyes. She was wearing low-riding flares that made her seem taller than her just-above-average height. Her brown top accentuated the size of her bust and the auburn in her hair; James was a little shocked at how good-looking they all were, but he hid it.

"What?" said Lily impatiently. She was sick of all this mooning about James, and if she could clean it up in her corner of Hogwarts, she would.

"I was needing a place to sit," he said huskily, and Carmen noted how hot his voice was.

"Why?" Lily was totally unaffected.

"The other compartments are full. Some are even locked."

"Well, have a seat, then," Ally piped up.

"I don't want to intrude upon Lily's precious space." A silence, and James added, "But I guess I'll be seeing her later on in this train ride." His voice trailed off, elusive, as he turned to leave.

Even Lily was slightly turned on by how tall, dark, and totally brooding he was, but she shut her mouth. Shaking her head slightly, she checked her watch.

A second later, the compartment door shut again, and the girls erupted into giggles. "What was that all about, Lily?" asked Ally, who had been fully ready to accept James into the fold.

"Yeah, Lily," added Carmen. Glancing sideways at Ally, she said, "I think Ally was about ready to hop in his lap."

Lily chuckled. "It was that or ravish him."

"He's not really my type." Ally had surprised the other two girls. Ally, having a type? Ally, wanting something that wasn't hormone-induced? The other girls stared at her incredulously.

"It's not impossible!" she exclaimed.

Leaving well enough alone, Lily picked up her wand and idly began shooting rubber stars. "How was your summer, Ally?"

"Ouch!" A rubber star had found its way to Ally's head. "It was okay, I guess. I met a guy in France but it turned out to be nothing. He had a girlfriend back in London. He…he _was_ good-looking though."

Carmen looked sympathetic, but Ally's last words had chased a smile out of her. "I had better luck than you, at least. I stayed with my cousin at Hogsmeade, and damn! At that club, Tunisia, there are some _fine_-looking young men!"

"Meet anyone?" Lily asked dryly.

"Yeah, actually. His name was Macon."

"How far did you get?" Lily's voice was matter-of-fact.

"Scored a home-run."

"Was it good?"

"Delicious."

Ally was looking slightly puzzled. "Home run…is that like catching the snitch?"

Carmen shook her head, tsk-ing. Ally came from a pure-blood family and, even after more than six years with Lily and Carmen, was still learning.

Lily sat back on the plush seats. It was good to be back with, even Ally's cluelessness.

* * *

The train ride drifted on, and with a start, Lily realized she had to get over to the compartment at the front of the train to talk to the prefects and receive her own instructions. 

So with a sigh, she brushed off her lap and stood. The three had already changed into their robes, and she was ready to go. She shook her head when Ally offered her another cauldron cake, and declined another sip of the hard lemonade. She'd need her wits about her for this particular assignment.

She swung open the door and strode into the hall, smelling the scent of artificially chilled air and carpets. Making her way over to the Head compartment, she walked in and was met with upturned faces. Had she ever looked as young, innocent, or frightened when she was a prefect?

She was also rather startled to see James in with the rest of them. He must be the Head Boy, then. But she wondered if he'd ever have time to work on his Head duties, what with his Quidditch and all. Maybe Dumbledore had paired her with a shirker.

He sat in the corner in his wizarding robes, which were slightly open to reveal his white undershirt (did Lily try and see his six pack?) and his pants. His black hair was untidily swung over his forehead, and his eyes were defiant underneath his arched eyebrows.

Lily took a seat next to him, away from the rest of the prefects. She didn't say a word as Dumbledore handed out schedules and began a light lecture of their duties for the upcoming year. Lily didn't hear much of it at all, distracted by how close she was to James.

"Anyway, I will ask you all to try and spread news of this event, as I hope to make it an annual thing. Any questions?" Dumbledore paused to look about him. Finding no inquisitive looks, he added, "Very well, you are dismissed."

Lily looked about her. What event? _Crap_! she thought. She toyed a little with the idea of asking James, but she decided not too, considering the sort of relationship they had. Most likely he'd make fun of her for not listening or something, or he'd just stare at her blankly.

She went back to her friends' compartment to retrieve her belongings before unboarding; the train had almost arrived. She took her time though, stopping for a drink of water from the spout towards the front of the train.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Carmen yelped as soon as Lily entered the compartment.

"What?" replied Lily, puzzled.

"That there's a dance the first weekend. Dumbledore says he wants it to be a new tradition or something."

"What!"

"Dude, he should have told you first, you're Head Girl. But no! I have to hear it from some prefect who is lost and accidentally walks into the wrong compartment."

Ally sighed as the words were thrown from Carmen's mouth. She hoped Lily had an explanation.

"I spaced out during his entire speech. I had no idea this was even happening!"

"Spaced out?" Carmen muttered accusingly.

"I was sitting next to James."

Suddenly, the whole matter was clear. "The sex god."

Ally sighed again, this time in happiness.

"Hey!" said Carmen, obviously reaching a revelation of some sort. She leaned back into the plush seat and put her hands behind her head. If it was possible for someone to look more comfortable than Carmen did then, Lily hadn't seen it.

Just then a whistle tooted, and the girls began to pick up their stuff to head off the train. Carmen buttoned up her lips and said to Lily, "I'll tell you later."

On the horseless carriage, Carmen looked at her watch—it was a large wizard affair that told the date and the time and when the tides were coming in. "Wait," she said. "If it's on the first Friday, that's tomorrow. What will I wear?"

Lily shook her head. "Gosh, Carmen, can't you think of anything substantial? What am _I_ going to wear?"

The three laughed to themselves as the carriages climbed up the hill. Ally looked at her friend Lily and how pretty she was, and for some unexplainable reason, James came to mind. "Why don't you go with James?"

"James?" Lily snorted. "As if!"

"No really," said Carmen, the idea taking root in her mind. "You both are totally hot. It'd be perfect!"

"Come on, do it!" said Ally, sounding like a little girl on Christmas Eve, asking to open just _one_ present.

"Have you forgotten?" Lily asked. "Me and James hate each other."

"Oh, you're right," Ally said. "He could be taken."

"I wasn't saying that at all!"

"Look," said Carmen, exasperated, "Let's go in the school and get our food."

Outside the Great Hall, Lily, Ally, and Carmen fixed their hair and unbuttoned their robes to show off their new tans underneath their various pedal-pushers (Capri pants) and mini skirts, respectively. Looking good, finally, they strutted in and claimed their usual spot towards the end of the Gryffindor table.

The only thing interesting that happened was James' gaze, glaring at her at odd times during the first-night-back speech and their first-night-back dinner. It was extremely bizarre for Lily to find his glare catching her eyes.

At one point, before she was about to put a bite of her salad in her mouth, she nudged Ally. Gesturing towards James, she said, "_Now_ can you see why I can't go with him?"

Ally nodded and gulped. For once, she was relieved James' stare wasn't on her.

Being with James wore Lily out. She had to physically watch her actions and her arm-movements and what she said. She would reveal _nothing_.

But this time, in the common room just after dinner, she was having trouble restraining herself from saying things that would give her away. For they were fighting, tooth and nail, over the past. The past is a sticky thing that will trap anyone foolish enough to go back there, and Lily was learning this quickly as the past snapped her up in its jaws.

"What the fuck!" James yelled, and his voice echoed around.

"Ohh, good thing Dumbledore banned reporters or else everyone would find out the James Potter they know is a lie." Okay, it was weak, and Lily felt lame saying it, but she couldn't think of any other reply to "what the fuck".

"Why do you hate me?" James' voice was still loud, but now it was a question that he really wanted to know the answer to.

"You don't know?" Lily was angry. "You honestly don't know?"

James was taking out all the stops. "All I know is that last year, you freaking took me out of Quidditch for a game by telling my girlfriend I was perverted."

"Oh, and she be_lie_ved it, didn't she? Cause it wasn't a stretch for her imagination!"

"Yeah, right," James said sarcastically. "Your just jealous because you can't get dates like I can! And that is _no_ reason for what you did, taking me out of the game against Wales like that."

"That wasn't even enough payback for what you did to me."

"What have I _ever_ done to you? I haven't fucking touched you."

"You fucking ruined my fifth year! I know being 'discovered'"—Lily's voice made the word seem silly and shallow—"was a pain, but it was no reason to take it out on me."

"I didn't do a damn thing!" James cried indignantly.

Lily lost interest in where this battle of words was taking her. She flopped onto one of the overstuffed chairs in front of the fire as the first years in the common room watched her, fascinated. "Fine, James," she said, biting off the words and spitting them in his lap. "Believe whatever damn truth you have any idea about."

"I don't know what your problem is," James stated. The anger was lost in a sea of incredulousness. He was bewildered.

"James, you know what you did. Stop playing dumb."

"No, I really don't. What?"

Lily drew her mouth into a line. "You really want to know? For real?"

"Yeah, actually."

Lily rolled her eyes in a motion that swung her head around. Annoyance crackled in her eyes, and James saw it. He watched it fizzle as she tried to keep it out of her voice when she began her story. "I was eating in the Great Hall. Minding my own business, talking to my friends. And you. You know what you did? You told all your precious Marauder friends about me making out with the captain of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. And suddenly no one liked me in Gryffindor for not being loyal to my house, and Ravenclaw all thought I'd taken advantage of poor Jason Federin. Because of course your precious Marauders told the entire school. The Hufflepuffs thought I was some sort of super-whore. I lost so much respect from everyone."

She blinked, and raised her eyes to make eye contact with James for the first time all throughout her story. "And all because of you," she said, shaking her head. "It wasn't even a prank. It was malicious, catty, and…and…girly. Cliqueish."

James' eyes had been widening with realization through her story. "Oh my God," he said finally, his head in his hands. "_You_ were Lily the Crane?"

"Lily the _Crane_?"

"It all makes sense now," he said. "Lily the Crane was you. I thought it was that annoying blonde that sometimes hangs around you."

"Merissa? Gosh, no. It, it was me."

"Lily," he tilted up her chin. "I'm sorry I said that." He stated it so seriously that she had to stop herself from bursting into tears, but as it was, one trickled out from underneath her closed eyelids. Someone actually cared to apologize, and it made her sappy. "Lily," he said again, his mouth caressing her name. He cupped his fingers underneath her chin and stroked her beneath her eye with his thumb. "Don't cry."

And suddenly he was kissing her and her world was spinning; she was kissing him back. He slid onto the couch with her, barely disrupting the kiss, and pulled her closer to him. Her hands were running through his messy hair, smoothing it, and his arm was wrapped around her. They were pressed up against each other, and Lily could feel his heart thudding over her heartbeat.

She pulled away, but his hands were still around her. "James," she said.

She scooted herself back a little, disentangling herself from his arm. "James, we can't do this."

In the middle of his question ("why?"), she stood up and skipped up the spiral staircase to her dormitory, ignoring the eyes of the random first years, second years, and third years that had watched this display of affection from their Head Boy and Head Girl.

* * *

**A/N:** _review on your way out. Flames are welcome...and what was Carmen about to say? Review and find out. _


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